Second Step
by bdwoolf
Summary: As Makepeace takes one step closer to redemption, O'Neill must come to terms with what it means to him.
1. Part 0

Title: From Here To Eternity: The Road to Redemption - The Second Step  
Author: GateDemon aka MythingLink  
Comments to: gatedemon@woolfden.net  
Rating: PG  
Spoilers: Episode - Shades of Gray and Into the Fire, Fan Fiction: From Here to Eternity: The Road to Redemption - The First Step. You can find The First Step at http://scarecrowsdream.woolfden.net .  
Archive: Will be archived at http://scarecrowsdream.woolfden.net . Yes to Stargatefan. Anyone else, please ask first.  
Summary: As Makepeace takes one step closer to redemption, O'Neill must come to terms with what it means to him.  
Status: Complete. Second in Series.  
Warnings: None  
Author's Notes: My heartfelt thanks to Cokie and Moony without whose help I would be lost.  
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and the characters are the property of  
MGM-UA, Viacom/Showtime, Gekko Productions, and Double Secret  
Productions. No copyright infringement is intended as it is  
simply an expression of my liking for the show. 


	2. Part I

From Here To Eternity: The Road to Redemption, The Second Step  
Part 1  
  
All disclaimers can be found in Part 0  
  
***  
  
The large conference room was dark, shades drawn against a bright afternoon sky in Washington, D.C. Eight leather chairs surrounded a long mahogany table polished to mirror like finish that reflected the images of two unlit, hanging chandeliers. Beautifully polished teak paneling lined the walls where paintings of historic sea battles hung suspended on thick, gold rope. A small brass light fixture above each one spot lighted its individual painting. This was a room any of the various gentlemen's clubs that still existed in the city would love to have for themselves.  
  
The door opened letting in a shaft of light that was soon extinguished as the eight men filed into the room and shut the door. Seven of the men took chairs around the table, leaving the chair at the head unoccupied. The eighth man flipped a wall switch and light blazed throughout the room as the chandeliers came to life sending light reflecting off of highly polished wood. He then took his seat at the head of the table. He pulled a leather cigar case from an inside pocket of his custom made suit and placed it on the table in front of him, then he pulled a slim, silver cigarette lighter and cigar clipper from his pants pocket and placed them next to the cigar case.   
  
Seven men watched as he extracted a long, fragrant cigar from the case and clipped the end which he then he rolled between his fingers as he lit it with the lighter. Finished he leaned back in his chair and crossed one leg over his knee, blowing out a large, blue cloud of cigar smoke and watching it as it slowly drifted to the ceiling.  
  
As soon as the smoke disappated, he aimed coal black eyes at the man sitting immediately to his left. "Well Jergens, why are we here?"  
  
The man identified as Jergens was smallish in stature being only 5'7" tall and weighing at the most 150 lbs. He had shocking red hair, pale green eyes that were surrounded by a mass of pale skin covered with freckles. A large, bulbous nose was laced with small red lines earned through many years of drinking and his lips were small and bow shaped. When parted they exposed the yellowed teeth of a heavy smoker. His hands shook on the table top and he automatically reached into his jacket pocket to take out a package of Marlboro reds and a book of matches. He shook a cigarette out of the pack and lit it, quickly inhaling the acrid smoke in short, sharp, gasps. The smoke seemed to calm him as his hands lost their uncontrollable shaking when half the cigarette was consumed.  
  
"It's Makepeace," he finally answered. "O'Neill finally agreed to meet with him yesterday. The guard we're paying to keep an eye on him called me after the meeting. He said that up until then Makepeace had been nervous, pacing his cell constantly but that after meeting with O'Neill he seemed to relax."  
  
"Do we know what was said?" asked the man with the cigar.  
  
Jergens shook his head in the negative taking several more puffs on his cigarette before extinguishing it in the crystal ashtray in front of him. "No. He couldn't hear. He said he didn't want to stand too close because he didn't want to appear like he was trying to hear them."  
  
"We're paying this man too much money if he couldn't figure out a way to eavesdrop on the conversation without arousing any suspicion," the cigar smoker stated turning to face the men on the right side of the table. "Crater, what do you suggest? You've known Makepeace the longest. What did he have to say to Colonel O'Neill?"  
  
All heads turned to the giant of a man identified as Crater. Standing at 6'7" tall with the muscular build of a professional line backer, he looked out of place in this room full of business men. Dark, wire like hair cut short in a buzz cut crowned his head while deep-set grey eyes that flashed steel peered out under a heavy brow ridge covered with thick, bushy eyebrows that almost joined as one just above his nose. A good, strong mouth filled with small, white straight teeth sat above an equally strong chin. Women who saw him described him as dangerous, but that didn't stop them from continually trying to get his attention. Those that did, regretted it later.  
  
"If you recall, I warned you about trying to turn Robert," answered Crater in a voice that matched his appearance. "Unlike your pet politician Kinsey and his toad Maybourne, Robert has a conscience. A very active one. I'm sure that after a year in prison, he's beginning to regret his involvement."  
  
"Do you think he's a threat?" asked cigar smoker.  
  
"I always did." Crater's answer was tinged with venom aimed at those who had approved the recruitment of Makepeace. Those men cringed inwardly at the implied threat behind the words. All except the man at the head of the table. He just smiled.  
  
Seeing the ash on his cigar was over an inch in length, he carefully knocked it off into his ash try. While he was doing this, Jergens lit another cigarette.  
  
"Well then. We need to do something to remedy this little problem. Jergens," he said.  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"That guard we're paying. He's about to earn a bonus although he doesn't really deserve it since he couldn't determine what was said between our two colonels."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"I don't think I need to spell it out for you, do I?" the cigar smoker asked sweetly.  
  
Jergens nervously squashed his second cigarette out next to the first. "No, sir. It'll be done today."  
  
"Good," he responded. "Since that was the only reason for our meeting here today, all of you can go back to doing whatever it is you do that you think is so important," he added dismissing the seven men with the wave of his cigar.  
  
Jergens was the first out the door while Crater brought up the rear. Just before shutting the door behind him, he turned back to the room and the man still seated at the head of the table. "He'll fail, you know."  
  
"I know. I've been waiting for him to do so."  
  
Crater shrugged and left leaving the cigar smoker to his thoughts.  
  
***  
  
continued in part 2 


	3. Part II

From Here To Eternity: The Road to Redemption, The Second Step  
Part 2  
  
All disclaimers can be found in Part 0  
  
***  
  
Jack O'Neill had driven for hours after arriving back from Kansas and his meeting with Makepeace trying to accept what he'd been told. Trust was not going to come easy and the story Makepeace had begun to tell him stretched the limits of Jack's imagination. Granted he had seen a lot in his military career that would curl the hair on most, but this went far beyond your simple little dictator as monster scenario.   
  
Makepeace hadn't given him any names yet, just a very broad description of a consortium made up of civilians that were behind what Maybourne had been doing with his 'shadow SG teams'. Both Hammond's contact and Maybourne had hinted at it, but there had as yet been no solid proof that this was true. In the back of his mind, he still thought Makepeace was feeding him a story. However if Makepeace was telling the truth and could give them names and facts that they could follow up on, this could give them the edge they needed to break this up and see that it never happened again. O'Neill decided it was time to report his meeting back to his commanding officer.  
  
***  
  
Robert Makepeace didn't know whether to be disappointed after his meeting with O'Neill, or relieved. As he sat on his bunk and reran the meeting in his mind, he attempted to 'read' O'Neill, but he was well trained as Makepeace knew and hadn't let his face or body show any signs as to whether he was believing him. All O'Neill had said when he left was "I'll make sure the information gets to where it belongs." That could mean he'd tell Hammond or would just relegate it to the trash bin in his head. He decided to follow training and just wait and see.   
  
The only thing he was sure of, was that if the wrong people found out he was talking he would be eliminated. He'd expected that to have happened by now. Surely the powers that be had heard that he had been begging to talk to O'Neill and as paranoid about their secrecy as they were, he had figured they would take him out of the picture assuming that he was going to do just what he did. But they hadn't. What were they waiting for? The more he thought about it he decided that there was something that he didn't know about them ... about their plans, and that made him nervous. Maybe he was still being used and was too dumb to realize it. But how the hell could letting Hammond know about them advance their plans?   
  
He'd been a soldier all his adult life. It was what defined him. It defined the way that he saw the world and the people in it. It defined the way he made plans and decisions. Military logic was not the same as the logic that civilians fell back on. If he was going to figure this out, he would have to change his method of thinking. Difficult, but not impossible. He prayed that O'Neill hadn't decided to blow him off because now he felt, more than ever, that the story needed to be told in its entirety.  
  
***  
  
"So, do you believe him?" asked Hammond after he had been appraised of O'Neill's meeting with Makepeace.  
  
O'Neill had expected that question from his commanding officer and had contemplated it all the way back to Cheyenne Mountain and the SGC. He hadn't been able to find an answer then and he still couldn't. "I don't know, sir. If there is a conspiracy involving highly placed civilians and military, would they let an underling like Makepeace be privy to their plans ... to their identities?"  
  
"You're assuming Colonel Makepeace was just a tool. Someone to go out and collect artifacts."  
  
"Well that is what he did, sir."  
  
"Agreed, but what if he did more than that? What if he was in on the planning stages from the beginning? Makepeace admitted that the reason he did this was because he believed in the concept that we needed to start taking technology to help ourselves against the Goa'uld. So he helps them out and along the way discovers that there is more to it than that," suggested Hammond.  
  
"But sir, if these guys are as powerful and as smart as Makepeace is implying, then wouldn't they know that? I mean, Makepeace may have been deluded into helping them out but he's not stupid."  
  
"Colonel, all it would take is for Maybourne to say what he said to you and mention that there is more going on here than we know. A man in Makepeace's position would run with that, don't you think?" Hammond asked.  
  
"I would if it had been me, but I would also think that they might be aware of what I'm doing or suspect it at any rate. Then I'd become a liability to them. They'd want ... no need," O'Neill amended, "to get rid of me. And they haven't done that. Makepeace is still alive and well."  
  
"Then maybe they aren't as smart as Colonel Makepeace makes them out to be and we're back to the same question ... is he telling the truth?"  
  
The phone on Hammond's desk rang at that moment interrupting their conversation. Hammond sat forward in his chair and picked it up. "Hammond."  
  
***  
  
Makepeace was concentrating so hard that he didn't hear the guard approach his cell and walk in until the man was standing directly in front of him. He looked up unconcerned by the visit. "Yes?"  
  
"Sorry to disturb you, sir, but the Assistant Warden would like to see you," announced the guard rattling a set of chains and manacles in front of him.  
  
A warning bell started to ring in Makepeace's mind. The guard, whom he had the most contact with since being imprisoned, appeared for the first time nervous and jumpy. There were small beads of perspiration on the man's forehead and small, almost unnoticeable movement back and forth from one foot to the other that only someone trained in reading body language would see. Makepeace kept his face noncommittal so as not to alarm the guard. Maybe he had been wrong in his conclusions about the consortium keeping him alive. Maybe now was the time. If it was, he decided he wasn't going to go down without a fight.  
  
"Okay," he said standing up and preparing to defend himself. If it came now, he knew he'd be able to take down the guard rather than the guard taking down him. The man was shorter and weighed less than he did. He knew that his physical conditioning was also much better than the guard who stood in front of him. He raised his arms to shoulder height and watched as the guard put the chain around his waist. When that was accomplished Makepeace lowered his arms and let the guard attach the manacles to his wrists preventing him from using his hands defensively or offensively. However the guard hadn't brought the leg manacles or chains so he still had his feet he could depend on and Makepeace hoped that would be enough.  
  
The guard backed out of the cell and waited for Makepeace to take the lead down the deserted corridor. When the guard halted him and told him to turn towards the showers instead of the Assistant Warden's office, he knew that the time had come.   
  
The shower room was completely tiled. Shower heads bristled from the walls at regular intervals. A modesty barrier that substituted for a shelf to hold soap and shampoo ran down the center of the room. The room was empty and before Makepeace could turn, the guard bounced a sap off the back of his head.   
  
Makepeace had been expecting something of this nature, but it still didn't help when the lead filled sap hit him just where the skull meets the spine. The pain exploded in his head and he dropped to his knees and then fell on his side in a fetal position, fighting to keep from passing out. He knew he had to remain conscious or someone was going to find his dead body in the shower. His vision darkened around the edges heralding total black out, but he concentrated on keeping the guards boots, which was all he could see now, in focus. Summoning all his strength, he kicked out with his own feet towards the them and was rewarded with hearing a yell of pain and seeing the guard's feet suddenly vanish from his site to be replaced by the guard's chest as he fell to the ground. Again Makepeace kicked this time aiming for the man's head. He watched as the guard's head snapped back and blood gushed from a now broken nose. The guard, still conscious, curled up on his side dropping the leather covered sap and grabbing his nose instead.   
  
Makepeace's vision began to clear and he slowly made his way to his knees where once again blackness threatened and he retched. Sour tasting bile burned its way up his throat and out his mouth and nose. In between convulsions he gulped in large breaths of air and soon his stomach settled as all its contents were purged. Ignoring the mess, he slid forward and grabbed the keys off the prostrate guard. Then he slowly raised himself to his feet and looked at the man who was still rocking back and forth, hanging onto his face, and moaning.   
  
Makepeace's head throbbed with each beat of his pulse, and his vision kept dimming and brightening along with it. His knees were weak from the pain and from the vomiting threatening to send him to the floor once again, but he managed to wobble his way to the doorway of the shower. Once there he used the wall for support and slid along it until he came to the Panic Button that the guards used to set off an internal alarm if they needed help. He searched the key ring and found the key that would activate it, thankful that he had just enough reach to insert it and turn. He cringed as the alarm sounded making his head throb even harder and he slid to the floor and waited.  
  
***  
  
O'Neill watched as Hammond's face grew dark as he listened to what whoever was telling him on the other end of the phone. "Thank you for informing me. I'll get back to you shortly," he said through clenched teeth. Hanging up the phone he aimed his eyes at O'Neill. "Well, Colonel ... either a guard just tried to kill Makepeace or Makepeace just tried to kill a guard. The warden at Leavenworth isn't sure."  
  
O'Neill sat forward in his chair. "What happened?"  
  
"Well according to Makepeace the guard told him that the Assistant Warden wanted to see him then took him to the shower room and hit him over the head with a sap," explained Hammond. "The guard is saying that Makepeace asked to go there to clean up and once there attacked him. The only thing going in Makepeace's favor is that he was the one who sounded the alarm."  
  
"If he sounded the alarm then wouldn't that exonerate him?"  
  
"Well the guard is making noises that Makepeace just wanted to hurt him for something that he had said some time ago."  
  
O'Neill looked unconvinced. "That's pretty weak, sir."  
  
"I agree." Hammond leaned back in his chair and sighed. "I'm going to recommend that Makepeace be moved to a safe house and I want you to go along."  
  
"Sir?" O'Neill wasn't sure if he wanted to hear what he knew Hammond was going to say next.  
  
"You'll have complete authority. You pick out where you want to put him, you choose the people to go with you, and while you're there, you can get Makepeace's complete story about this consortium," ordered Hammond. "No one outside this office is to know where you've gone. Is that clear?"  
  
O'Neill fought against his distaste at having anything to do with Makepeace ever again. He'd hoped that once he reported to Hammond, he'd be in the clear. Cursing whoever put the hit out on Makepeace, if that's what happened, he said, "Yes, sir."  
  
***  
  
continued in part 3 


	4. Part III

From Here To Eternity: The Road to Redemption, The Second Step  
Part 3  
  
All disclaimers can be found in Part 0  
  
***  
  
If you own your own island, you can develop it any way you want and for some that also meant having your own form of government. It was easy to do if you were one of the wealthiest men in the world and Jacob Castro was one of those men.  
  
As a youth, Castro was curious about the world and at the age of seventeen had set sail from Hawaii on board a sloop he had built himself from cast off lumber. His mother had not even noticed he had gone.  
  
Sailing came natural to the young man and he had no difficulty controlling the small craft. He had stolen everything he needed: maps, compass, dried food supplies, water containers, fishing equipment, and one .22 calibre revolver from a local sporting goods shop where he had worked in the stock room for two years.  
  
Several weeks into his trip, he ran out of dried food and fresh water. Using his stolen fishing equipment, he kept himself in fresh fish. He hung strips of fish letting the sun dry them and rubbed the salt that condensed on the sloop into them to preserve them. He would chew on raw fish for the small amount of water that their flesh gave up. A small squall furnished more drinking water. Using his sail, he laid out his water containers underneath it to catch the rain water as it struck the sail and dripped to the deck of the sloop. A week later, he sighted land.  
  
***  
  
The phone rang softly. He let it ring twice before answering. He held the instrument to his ear and listened. Nodding he softly said, "As I expected. You know what to do." Then he hung up the phone and grinned at the young woman seated on the couch against the far wall.   
  
The woman hid a shiver of revulsion at the sight of the mans' massive lips parting to reveal large, horse-shaped, teeth yellowed and chipped. She forced herself to smile back. "Do I start?" she asked.  
  
"Of course. Crater will let you know the particulars. The plane is waiting to take you to Colorado."  
  
The woman stood preparing to leave but was stopped by the man's voice just short of the door. "Jessica, if you fail me you know what will happen to you."  
  
The woman, who was facing away from him, closed her eyes and swallowed nervously. She nodded and left the room.  
  
***  
  
O'Neill decided it would be easier to recruit his team to help him with Makepeace if they were in a public place. He chose The Lighthouse, a restaurant that served home style cooking. As he walked in he decided it had been a perfect choice. He had been there once before and had been impressed with the feeling of solitude that he had felt while dining. He had chosen one of the high backed booths and had noticed that even though the restaurant was crowded, no voices carried far enough for him to make out the words being spoken by the other diners. The lighting was subdued enough to make dining intimate but there was still enough light so that you could actually see what you were eating. He had called ahead for reservations asking for a corner booth and was happily told by the female that had answered the phone that one was available for the time he wanted. Then he had called Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c and asked him to meet him there at 1900 hours. All three had seemed a bit stunned by his invitation. They had all gone out together before but it was usually to O'Malley's Bar and Grill or some pizza joint never to someplace as exclusive as The Lighthouse. All three had accepted but O'Neill could tell from their voices that they were suspicious of his motives. Well, all except Teal'c who wasn't yet caught up on all the nuances of choosing places to dine out.  
  
He was the first to arrive having planned it that way. He took the side of the booth that sat against the wall facing the direction of the door so that he could see who was coming in and out. Ordering a Guiness stout, he nursed it while he watched and waited continuing to plan what he would say to his team. He knew they would have objections and he hoped that he had anticipated them all and had a reasonable counter argument to them. He thought he had since he figured he'd had the same objections while he was discussing this with Hammond. However with Carter and Daniel, one never knew exactly what and how they thought. It was a constant surprise to him how they reacted in some situations and some of the arguments they always put forward to him when he had made a decision really made him think. Even Teal'c at times surprised him and unbeknownst to them all, he relished in it. All three had opened up his mind to so many different possibilities and he thanked his lucky stars that fate had put the four of them together.  
  
He had consumed about half of his ale when he saw Carter walk in followed closely by Daniel and Teal'c. He watched as the hostess brought them over to his booth. Carter and Daniel slid onto the bench opposite O'Neill and Teal'c slid in next to him. The hostess was soon replaced by the same young man who had taken O'Neill's drink order. As soon as the three new arrivals had given him their order and left Daniel said, "Well Jack. This is nice, but it's ... ah ... not exactly the kind of place I would have thought you to frequent. So what are we doing here and what are you trying to bribe us into doing?" His blue eyes met O'Neill's across the table and held them.  
  
"Sir, I have to agree with Daniel. This whole thing is kind of fishy," added Carter.  
  
O'Neill turned his head to look at Teal'c waiting for him to add his agreement into the mix, but all he got from him was a raised eyebrow and a tilt of his head. He turned back to face Daniel and Carter.  
  
"Okay, you got me. I chose this place for a number of reasons ... one" he said holding up a finger, "I needed someplace neutral where we could talk and someplace where you probably wouldn't yell too loud when I tell you what we have to do. Two ..." a second finger joined the first, "I figured we might as well eat while we're talking and three ..." another finger went up, "I had a craving for southern fried steak and this place has the best." He ended by waving his three fingers back and forth in front of his grinning face.  
  
Carter and Daniel exchanged glances and Daniel who was on the outside started to slide out of the booth followed quickly by Carter. Teal'c also rose. O'Neill had half expected this kind of reaction. He waited a beat and said quietly, "We might have a chance to find out who is behind Maybourne and Kinsey and stop them." He didn't look up at them choosing instead to lift his glass of ale and drain it. He slowly set the glass back down on the table when he had swallowed.  
  
All three stopped, exchanged looks again, and then sat back down.  
  
"You've got our attention," said Daniel.  
  
The waiter took this moment to walk up with their drink orders and after delivering them down, he nodded when O'Neill picked up his empty glass and waved it in the air. Taking the empty glass he said, "Would you care to order now?"  
  
Carter picked up her menu and answered, "I think we're going to need a minute. We haven't looked at this yet."  
  
***  
  
Thirty minutes later, their meals arrived and O'Neill had told them all about his meeting with Makepeace, the attempt on his life and Hammond's decision to have him moved to a safe house. O'Neill had been slightly surprised when his team had let him tell the whole thing without any interruptions. Finished with his recital, he took a bite of steak and looked at each while he chewed.   
  
Daniel was the first asking what O'Neill had known would be the first question, "Do you trust him?" The only thing O'Neill had debated with himself was who would be the first to ask it.  
  
"No, not entirely."  
  
"What do you mean, not entirely?" asked Carter between spoonfuls of her crawdad soup.  
  
"Well," said O'Neill cutting off another piece of steak, "I was having some difficulty with the idea that if he knew all this information why these people were letting him live."  
  
"And the attempt on his life changed your mind," asked Daniel.  
  
"Almost."  
  
"Colonel, it really isn't like you to be so enigmatic."  
  
"You're right," he agreed. "I guess it's the food and the ambiance of this place."  
  
"Ambiance? You know what ambiance is?" asked Daniel jokingly.  
  
"Yes Daniel, I know what ambiance is and I know this place has it. Okay?" he responded. "Anyone else want to insult my intelligence?" he asked in mock anger.  
  
Carter tried to look serious but failed when she started to laugh. "No, sir," she said behind a hand which was covering her mouth to keep her from ejecting the mouthful of soup she hadn't had a chance to swallow before O'Neill had asked his question.  
  
O'Neill cast a sideways look at Teal'c who was calmly eating his steak. He had ordered the same meal as O'Neill. "We have nothing like this on Chulak. I believe Master Bra'tac would enjoy this meal," said Teal'c.  
  
"Uh huh," said O'Neill. "We'll have to invite him the next time he comes to visit."  
  
Teal'c nodded while saying, "Indeed," and spearing another bite sized piece of southern fried steak.  
  
"You were saying, Jack ..."  
  
O'Neill tore his gaze away from Teal'c to look at Daniel. "Oh yeah. We all know that there is someone out there pulling the strings and that they're pretty damned powerful. We think we know that some of them are only interested in weapons technology, but what if there is more to it than that? What if there is some commercial use of the Stargate that they've concocted? Now if they're all that damned resourceful to have a piece of the military in their pockets as well as several senators and congressmen, wouldn't they be able to fake a murder attempt on someone just to get us to think that the ... murderee is on the up and up?"  
  
"So you think that Makepeace is still playing us?" asked Carter.  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Jack you're going around in circles here. You maybe trust him ... you maybe don't. He may have had someone try to murder him or he may have had someone make it look like they were trying to murder him," argued Daniel.  
  
O'Neill sighed. "Yeah, I know. That's why I want you all to be on the team that hides him away and talks to him. There is one thing I do know. I trust your judgment. All of you," he said taking them all in with a wave of his fork. "Each of you will come at this from a different perspective. I'm hoping that because of that, we'll get to the truth."  
  
Three pairs of eyes met one pair and slowly three faces smiled. It was Daniel who spoke.  
  
"Damn, I wish I'd had a tape recorder to save that because we're never going to hear it again."  
  
***  
  
continued in part 4 


	5. Part IV

From Here To Eternity: The Road to Redemption, The Second Step  
Part 4  
  
All disclaimers can be found in Part 0  
  
***  
  
Jacob Castro steered his small sloop toward the land mass. As he got closer he realized that he wouldn't be able to make land fall from this side of the island. Sharp, jagged cliffs rose to a height of 300 feet or more and a coral reef threatened to tear the bottom out of his sloop the nearer he got. He decided to tack around the island to see if he could find a more hospitable landing. Turning to starboard he followed the outline of the island and after going close to 12 kilometers he was rewarded as the cliffs fell away and he found an inlet that looked promising. Avoiding the reefs here was easy and he maneuvered his small boat into calm waters. A white, sandy beach surrounded him, a paradise of palm trees and mangos ringed the sand creating a cool, green backdrop to the sand and water. Dropping sails and anchor, he dove off the sloop and swam to the beach amazed at the crystal clarity of the water he moved through. Stepping onto the beach, he gazed about him in awe at the pristine beauty surrounding him. His footsteps were the only ones for as far as he could see. He knelt and dug his fingers into the warm sand feeling the weight of ages against the palms of his hands the deeper he thrust them into the surface in front of him. A sudden feeling of euphoria surged through his mind and he somehow knew that he was the only human occupant of this island. He named it Muskateer Island having always felt a kinship to the romantic and bumbling French guards men played by Oliver Reed and Michael York in The Three Mustkateers.  
  
***  
  
Twenty-four hours after their meeting at The Lighthouse, SG-1 were gathered in a four bedroom, ranch style house that O'Neill had picked out to be their safe house. The house was set on 10 acres of land outside of Colorado Springs and had been rented to an imaginary school teacher named Samarah Zhad. Ms. Zhad was actually Technical Sergeant Kamir, a member of the security forces that maintained vigilance at the SGC. O'Neill had recruited her after a careful examination of her service record indicated that she had, first and foremost, no previous contact with Makepeace or Maybourne during her assignment to the SGC. The rest of his security team were also men and women whose backgrounds and history with the SGC had passed O'Neill's scrutiny. He also had Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c go behind him in examining the credentials of each person who was pulled off of duty at the SGC to the safe house. Kamir and SG-1 were the only people allowed inside the house, the rest, ten in all, were to spend their days and nights in the fields and trees that surrounded the house. O'Neill was a little concerned that so many people had to be included but Hammond had insisted that there be at least 10 people who would act as roving guards around the perimeter of the house: five on and five off, working in eight hour shifts through the days and nights. Kamir stayed in the house to field any phone calls that came in from telephone solicitors and the like who always seemed to know when someone new moved into any home or apartment in the Colorado Springs area.  
  
O'Neill was sitting in the kitchen having a cup of coffee waiting for the rest of his team to show up prior to his leaving for Leavenworth to get Makepeace. He had arrived early at the house to inspect everything before turning it over to Carter and Teal'c who would stay behind while he and Daniel flew to Kansas.  
  
As they had at the restaurant, all three arrived at the time same time. He wondered how they always seemed to manage that since Daniel would have had to drive to the SGC to pick up Teal'c before driving to the safe house. It was one of those irritating, little things that sat in the back of his mind demanding an answer. He made a mental note to ask them one day.  
  
Daniel sniffed the air and his eyes lit on the coffee pot. "Great! I only had one cup of coffee this morning and I'll get a headache if I don't have at least three more," he said going straight for the cupboards to look for coffee mugs. Finding them in the second cupboard he opened, he quickly poured himself a cup and joined O'Neill at the kitchen table.   
  
Carter and Teal'c sat down. "Nice place," said Carter.   
  
"Well I've spent time in safe houses before and decided that we might as well be comfortable while we're here," said O'Neill. "We'll have to share bedrooms though ... Carter and Kamir in one, Daniel and I in another, Teal'c and Makepeace each get one to themselves."  
  
Teal'c acknowledged his thanks at not having to share a room with someone with the dip of his head. O'Neill smiled at him. "Thought you'd like that, big guy."  
  
Daniel took a sip of his coffee. "Who made this? It's pretty good," he commented.  
  
"Kamir. She said something about adding chickory to it."  
  
"Well it's a lot better than what they add to the coffee at the SGC."  
  
"They don't add anything to the coffee at the SGC, Daniel," said Carter. "Maybe they should though," she added with a grin.  
  
"A few more coffee beans would be nice," said Daniel grinning in return.  
  
O'Neill let him team play for a bit more, then interrupted. "Okay Daniel and I need to leave in about ten minutes to get to the airport. We're going commercial so we don't want to miss our plane. We're also coming back commercial. Unfortunately we have to spend the night there and catch a plane back early tomorrow morning. Here's the flight and hotel information." O'Neill handed Carter his and Daniel's itinerary then he added, "Carter, you've got my cell phone number in case anything crops up that I should know about right?" he asked.  
  
She nodded. "Yes, sir."  
  
"Security forces are already patrolling. Captain Hardesty is in charge of the two teams and they are in constant contact with us and each other. The equipment is set up in the den ... surveillance cameras in both normal and infra-red have been placed around the house and in the tree line. There are also some microphones that are monitoring sounds that are run through a computer. Anything that doesn't sound natural is marked and we're given a warning. The cameras are set up so that if that happens, the nearest camera moves to the direction the sound came from. However we do have control of them if we need it. Any questions?"  
  
"Why are we flying commercial?" asked Daniel. "I would have thought an Air Force jet or something."  
  
"Using an Air Force plane would be too conspicuous and we want to keep this as low profile as possible," O'Neill explained. "Any other questions?" He watched three heads shake and then stood taking his coffee cup to the sink and rinsing it out. "Ok then. Daniel are you ready to go?"  
  
Daniel stood and quickly gulped the rest of his coffee rinsing his cup out in the sink as well. "Uh ... yeah. Anytime."  
  
"See you when we get back," waved O'Neill as he walked out of the kitchen. Daniel following on his heels, turned and grinned at Carter and Teal'c. "Later."  
  
***  
  
It had taken him ten years, but patience paid off in the end. Muskateer Island was now his and the secret it held could now be revealed and would make him a rich man.   
  
Diamonds: a geological creation that sparks mystery, love, greed, and corruption. Diamond comes from the Greek adamas, used to describe the hardest substance known to man eventually becoming synonymous with diamond. Once reserved for the use of Kings, the diamond has now come to be the gem a man uses to proclaim him love for a woman. Diamonds have taken on mythic properties believed to render their owners courageous and fearless. On the opposite side of the coin, some are believed to bring their owners nothing but misery and death. Whatever one believes, diamonds have brought great wealth to some. One of those was Jacob Castro.  
  
Muskateer Island was formed by volcanic eruption. This eruption brought to the surface along the volcanic pipe, or kimberlite pipe, numerous pieces of crystallized carbon known as diamonds. Castro found an incredibly rich pipe in a volcanic mound in the center of the island. His discovery of the diamonds was accidental when he stumbled upon a fresh water stream where several diamonds lay after being freed from the rock by wind and rain. Realizing what he had found, he took several of those first diamonds with him when he decided he had to try to reach civilization or perish on the island. His luck held out and he safely made his way to New Zealand aboard his sloop after refreshing his water and food supply with fruit found on the island and fish from the sea.  
  
Upon reaching New Zealand, he learned that his little island wasn't charted and he held his secret for ten years until he had enough money put aside to lay claim to the island. After that he obtained a license to mine and sell diamonds and was on his way to becoming one of the wealthiest men in the world.   
  
Castor didn't only rely on diamonds to further his fortunes. He started searching for and buying colored gem stone mines around the world. He hired the finest and most imaginative artisans to create jewelry designs to hold the gems that came from his mines and soon created his own shrine, The House of the Muskateer to sell them from. By the year 1969, there was not a major metropolitan city in the world that didn't have one of his stores in it.   
  
Caster, even though participating with diamond market price controls, became the only large mine owner to sell independently and as long as he didn't dump large numbers of diamonds on the market was not thought a threat to the DeBeers Diamond Cartel. Remaining a private company afforded him anonymity and a certain measure of power over even government concerns. Castro lived by the old saying that vast amounts of money will buy anything ... especially politicians.   
  
***  
  
continued in part 5 


	6. Part V

From Here To Eternity: The Road to Redemption, The Second Step  
Part 5  
  
All disclaimers can be found in Part 0  
  
***  
  
The flight into Wichita, KS was uneventful. Daniel had brought along a book to read while O'Neill thumbed through the magazines the flight attendent kept bringing him. After lunch, both men dozed off and on until the wheels of the Boeing 727 touched down on the tarmac. Neither man felt like discussing the reason for their trip. Picking up a rental car, they drove to Ft. Leavenworth. Their main goal to get the paperwork to the warden authorizing him to release Makepeace into O'Neill's custody. Makepeace, who had been moved to the prison infirmary, had been informed that this would be his last night night there. The warden had given him his usual speech whenever one of his prisoners left wishing him a safe journey and luck with whatever was going to come after. Once all the paperwork had been completed, O'Neill and Daniel drove to the town of McPherson and checked into their motel.   
  
In his room O'Neill plunked himself down on top of the bed with the remote control and turned on the television. Surfing through channels he finally settled on The History Channel and the program History I.Q. Crossing his arms over his chest, he settled in to watch but was interrupted by a knock on the door. Knowing who it was going to be, he shot a dirty look at the door, muted the sound on the TV and said, "Yeah?" without getting up.  
  
"Uh Jack ... it's me. Daniel," came the muffled response.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
Silence. O'Neill had been watching the TV screen and now he looked towards the door. Curiosity finally got the better of him and he got up and yanked open the door finding a grinning Daniel standing outside, leaning against the balcony railing, arms crossed over his chest. Jack shook his head in exasperation, turned around and walked back into his room leaving the door open. Daniel followed shutting the door carefully behind him. Once inside his eyes roamed the room, his head nodding at some unspoken agreement he had made to himself until, that is, his eyes lit on the television and the program that O'Neill was watching. He pointed to the TV. "You're watching this?" he asked.  
  
O'Neill sat back down on the bed not answering Daniel's question but staring at the TV screen instead. Daniel shrugged and sat down in the nearest chair and turned his attention to the muted TV also. Both men sat in silence until the program ended and O'Neill used the remote to turn the television off. Crossing his arms over his chest, he watched Daniel out of the corner of his eye who also continued to stare at the blank screen. Finally O'Neill cleared his throat bringing Daniel's attention to him.  
  
"Jack do you trust him?"  
  
"No Daniel, I don't," sighed Jack. "but right now I don't have a choice ... neither do you."  
  
"He asked for you, right?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Why?"  
  
O'Neill moved off of the bed, heading for the door. "Shit Daniel, I don't know. Ask him tomorrow. I'm hungry," he said as he turned the door knob. "You coming?"  
  
Daniel rose slowly, nodding his head. "Yeah, maybe it's time to up the blood sugar level."  
  
***  
  
"Handcuffs stay on, Makepeace," informed O'Neill as the three men, O'Neill, Daniel, and Makepeace got out of the rental car at the airport. Makepeace nodded.  
  
Once the car was turned in, Daniel led the procession to the boarding gate aware of the looks they were receiving. He decided to ignore them but couldn't help wondering what Jack was thinking through all of this. He knew Jack liked to remain unobtrusive and now here they were, parading through a crowded airport with people overtly and covertly watching them and whispering to each other as the three men passed by. He figured it must be driving his friend nuts.  
  
Being the first to reach their gate, he walked over to the young brunette at the small podium. He passed their tickets over to her and turned to see where Jack had gone to with his prisoner.   
  
O'Neill had picked out the area in front of the glass that looked out over the runway to sit. It was the least crowded area. Daniel smiled inwardly to himself as he watched. After sitting and making sure that Makepeace was right next to him, he casually pulled a magazine out of his carry-on and sat back in his chair for all intents and purposes, reading. However, Daniel could see that that wasn't the case. Jack's eyes roved just over the top of the magazine, searching out that one person who didn't belong ... anyone who didn't act 'normal'.  
  
"You're plane will be boarding in 10 minutes, sir."  
  
"Huh?" asked Daniel turning quickly back to the young flight attendent.  
  
"You're plane will be boarding in 10 minutes," the brunette repeated holding out the plane tickets that he had turned over to her.  
  
"Oh," said Daniel taking them. "Sorry and thanks."  
  
"You're welcome, sir," she answered.   
  
Putting the tickets into his coat pocket, he walked over to sit on the other side of Makepeace pointedly ignoring him. Instead he continued to watch Jack survey the people around them.  
  
"She likes you."  
  
"What?" both Daniel and O'Neill asked.  
  
Makepeace motioned with his cuffed hands toward the gate attendent. "She likes Dr. Jackson, but then getting women to like him was never a problem," he said smiling.  
  
O'Neill shrugged and went back to people watching. For the first time since they had picked Makepeace up from the prison, Daniel looked at Makepeace. "What do you mean," he asked.  
  
Makepeace shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Just what I said. Women like you. She'd go out with you in a heart beat if you asked," he added, once again indicating the brunette gate attendent.  
  
"She doesn't even know me. How can she like me?" objected Daniel.  
  
"Has any of the women that have fallen for you really known you, Dr. Jackson? Did Sha're? Did Shyla?"  
  
"Look Makepeace as much as I enjoy these little locker room chats, you aren't exactly the guy I'd like having one with."  
  
Makepeace shrugged again. "I'm sorry Dr. Jackson. I was just trying to start a conversation. Both you and Colonel O'Neill have been trying very hard to pretend that I'm not here."  
  
"Yeah, well live with it Makepeace," interjected O'Neill. "We're not here to have fun."  
  
Makepeace looked from O'Neill to Daniel, shrugged again, and sat back in his chair. Daniel followed suit watching Makepeace out of the corner of his eye while glancing around the room at the different people who were in the boarding area trying to see them the way he knew Jack was and not really sure if he was succeeding.  
  
"Flight 217 to Colorado Springs is now boarding. Those passengers with passes 0-50, please board the plane."  
  
Daniel stood. "That's us."  
  
***  
  
"Colonel O'Neill and Daniel should be here soon," announced Carter as she walked into the kitchen of the safe house.  
  
"You are nervous, MajorCarter."  
  
Carter poured herself a cup of coffee and joined Teal'c at the kitchen table. Taking an experimental sip, she looked over the rim of her cup at the Jaffa. "A little, I guess," she admitted.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I've been asking myself that same question, Teal'c," she answered setting her coffee cup down on the table, "and I don't know the answer."  
  
"Is it because of the betrayal you felt when O'Neill joined Maybourne?"  
  
"No, I don't think that's it but it might be close. I think it's because of the betrayal I felt when I found out that Makepeace was a part of all of that. Makepeace wasn't the easiest guy to get to know, but he was one of us."  
  
"He also saved your life when Hathor took you as a prisoner," observed Teal'c.  
  
Carter nodded. "It's a little difficult to reconcile that you owe your life to a traitor."  
  
"Is he a traitor, MajorCarter?"  
  
"Of course he is," she asked shocked by the question. "How can you ask that?"  
  
Teal'c shrugged off the anger. "It is easy to see ColonelMakepeace as a traitor, but it is only because his philosphy is different than yours, is it not? He was doing what he thought to be the best course of action when he saved your life and when he joined Maybourne."  
  
"Teal'c ..."  
  
"MajorCarter, I do not take this lightly. I too am a traitor ... a traitor to all I was led to believe was true ... to all of my people who still believe in the gods. I believe that I have done the right thing."  
  
"Teal'c you know you did the right thing by turning against Apophis and joining us," said Carter.  
  
"No MajorCarter, I do not know. I will not know until I am witness to the eventual outcome of everything we are attempting to do. I will not know until all the false gods are no more. I will not know until I see that my people are free and that they can accept that freedom and live with it."  
  
"Teal'c do you think we're wrong?"  
  
Teal'c shrugged one shoulder in his usual way. "No MajorCarter, I do not think we are wrong. I do not believe we are wrong. Your ways of doing things ... your humanity, your compassion is what led me to do what I did so I cannot 'think' that we are wrong."  
  
"Then why?"  
  
"Because I too am a traitor. I too know what it feels like to have everyone I called friend, hate me for my belief."  
  
***  
  
"Makepeace will be arriving today."  
  
Crater smiled into the phone. "Good. Has anything changed?"  
  
"No. Everything still as it was -- camera's, microphones, roving patrols. It's all the same as when I told you about it yesterday."  
  
"Fine. Call as soon as Makepeace arrives."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
Crater set the receiver back into its cradle. Everything was going just as he had hoped. At first he had been reluctant working with someone he didn't know especially someone as nervous as Jessica had been on their first meeting. However she was proving herself worthy and almost felt sorry for her because he knew she'd have to die along with the rest of the people at the safe house.  
  
***  
  
continued in part 6 


	7. Part VI

From Here To Eternity: The Road to Redemption, The Second Step  
Part 6  
  
All disclaimers can be found in Part 0  
  
***  
  
"Makepeace is here."  
  
Crater smiled. "You're sure?"  
  
"Of course I'm sure. I just watched them drive up and walk into the house. They here now."  
  
"Where in the house?"  
  
"Right now, they're in the kitchen all sitting around the kitchen table like they were getting ready for a friendly poker game. Jackson has just poured everyone coffee and Carter even put some sandwich fixings on the table."  
  
"Well looks like it's lunch time at the OK Corral."  
  
***  
  
O'Neill watched as Carter finished emptying the refrigerator of everything that could be slapped onto a sandwich. When she was finished she sat down opposite him and shrugged.  
  
"Sandwiches?"  
  
"Well sir, I wasn't sure when the last time you had eaten so I ..." she trailed off when she saw the bemused look on his face.  
  
"It's all right Carter, I'm sure that Daniel is hungry. He didn't eat or drink anything on the plane," he said.  
  
"I couldn't eat anything on the plane and neither could anyone else." Daniel finished pouring coffee for everyone and sat down next to Teal'c. "Jack had the attendants so enamored of him that all they did for the entire flight was wait on him. How many bags of peanuts 'did' you eat?" he teased.  
  
O'Neill shrugged. "Well I couldn't very well be rude now could I, Daniel?"  
  
"No I guess you couldn't ... even when that little boy asked his Mom why the big man was getting all the peanuts and no one else was getting any."  
  
"It wasn't my fault and I did give him a couple of bags," protested O'Neill.  
  
"Only after he started crying."  
  
The light bantering stopped when an arm reached out for a couple of slices of bread and everyone turned to look at the odd man out at the table. O'Neill's hand shot out and grabbed Makepeace's wrist as he reached for a knife.  
  
"It's just a butter knife, Jack. What can I do with a butter knife?"  
  
O'Neill didn't let go of Makepeace's wrist, staring into his eyes. "It's Colonel to you Makepeace and you can do the same thing with a butter knife that I can."  
  
The rest of O'Neill's team watched in silence at the test of wills between O'Neill and Makepeace. All but Teal'c exhaled slowly when Makepeace's eyes moved to his hand and he dropped the knife.  
  
"Fine, I'll just spread the mustard and mayo with a piece of cheese."  
  
O'Neill let go of Makepeace's wrist and sat back in his chair. "Let's get something straight here. You're a prisoner. You're my prisoner. You'll do what I say and when I say it. Is that clear?"  
  
Makepeace raised his wrists and shook them, rattling the handcuffs. "Like I could forget?" When he didn't receive a verbal answer, he turned to Carter. "Major could you pass me a piece of that swiss cheese, please."  
  
Carter passed Makepeace the plate of cheese and watched with everyone else as he started to make himself a sandwich, handcuffs rattling with each movement. When O'Neill noticed Carter and Teal'c staring at him, he muttered, "Oh fer cryin' out loud." He reached into his pocket and produced a small key. "Makepeace give me your hands." He removed the handcuffs. "Teal'c's sitting right next to you Makepeace and he's got a damned good right. I know."  
  
Makepeace smiled. "Don't worry Ja... Colonel. I don't plan on going anywhere else today."  
  
***  
  
"Sure you have enough men, Crater?"  
  
Crater looked around and smiled. "Possibly. There's always a chance though that you'll need a few reserves," he answered nodding at the road where another SUV was pulling up. Six more heavily armed, heavily armored men spilled out. "They're the reserves."  
  
***  
  
The table cleared of all the food stuffs except for coffee cups, Daniel set up his digital recorder at the end of table facing Makepeace. It would be a visual recording of everything that Makepeace wanted to say.   
  
Jack began, "All right Makepeace, you said you could give us the people over Maybourne and you. So start."  
  
"Giving you the names will be the easy part," said Makepeace.  
  
"And the hard part?" asked Daniel.  
  
Makepeace paused and locked eyes with Daniel before answering, "You believing me."  
  
O'Neill suddenly sat forward in his chair and clapped his hands on the table. "Oh fer cryin' out loud Makepeace. Just what exactly are you expecting here? You want us to just jump up and down for joy and welcome you back? 'Hey no problem ole buddy. Forget it ever happened. We all make mistakes and it really wasn't any big deal anyway. Who cares that you went against everything that we've tried so hard to accomplish over the last three years? Who cares if you almost lost us the only friends and allies we've got out there? Who cares that you betrayed our trust ... that you betrayed my trust?'"   
  
All eyes were riveted on O'Neill including Makepeace's who when O'Neill was finished, lowered his head and whispered, "That's it isn't it Jack? I betrayed you ... not the SGC ... not Hammond ... you?"  
  
O'Neill jumped up, knocking his chair to the ground, his hands fists as he towered over Makepeace. His face suffused with blood and his expression one of temper out of control. Teal'c too stood and took a step behind Makepeace's chair where he gently placed a restraining hand on O'Neill's closest shoulder. Makepeace continued to stare at his lap.  
  
Seconds passed ... then minutes. Slowly the blood drained from O'Neill's face and his shoulders relaxed ... fists changed to hands again.  
  
Daniel got up and replaced the chair that O'Neill had knocked over holding it for him. His face a mask as he waited for O'Neill to sit. Finally O'Neill did and Daniel went back to his chair and sat. Teal'c did the same.  
  
As if nothing had happened, O'Neill sat back in his chair, crossed him arms over his chest, looked pointedly at Makepeace and said, "Names."  
  
***  
  
Crater took the lead into the trees surrounding the safe house. Just before reaching the line that had been set up by the perimeter guard, he paused. He looked left and right and smiled in satisfaction when he didn't see any of his people. He looked at his watch ... another 60 seconds and ... He felt rather than witnessed one of his people jumping the gun. Looking up quickly he saw one of the perimeter guards, rifle at the ready, racing across the yard in front of him toward his position. He calmly raised his Berreta and shot the man through the heart. That's when all hell broke loose.  
  
***  
  
Hearing rifle fire, the four members of SG-1 and Makepeace jumped from their chairs and ran to the windows staying out of sight, but peering outside. Sgt. Kamir came running into the room. "Someone has broken through the perimeter. We're under attack," she reported before leaving back the way she had come.   
  
O'Neill pulled his pistol and chambered a round. He grabbed Makepeace's arm and hustled him towards the kitchen door to the hallway. "Carter you remain here. Teal'c upstairs. Daniel, living room. Kamir is in the back bedroom."  
  
Daniel nodded, following behind Teal'c. "Where are you going to be?"  
  
"Makepeace and I are going to be in the den with the surveillance equipment." Pulling an earpiece from his pocket he added, "Make sure your wires are in. Oh, and good luck." Then with Makepeace in tow, he ran from the room.  
  
"Yeah," Daniel nodded. "Good luck."   
  
***  
  
Teal'c mounted the stairs three at a time. He had grabbed his staff weapon and a zat gun and ran into the bedroom facing the front of the house. Standing so he could see out the window but not be seen, he looked outside. Two bodies littered the ground. Both were wearing black BDUs, P90s laying unused next to motionless hands. He heard gunfire coming from directly under his position. Someone was down there shooting into the woods in front of the house. The bushes parted when a body fell forward. Three now dead on the front lawn.   
  
He moved quickly to the back bedroom and the window that overlooked the lawn. He broke the glass from the window, pushed his staff weapon through and fired hitting the man who was running across the grass towards the back door of the house. Then he dodged a spray of bullets that tore into the window frame in front of him.   
  
***  
  
Carter had seen the man running across the lawn and just as she was going to fire, she saw the man go down from Teal'c's staff weapon blast 20 feet from the door to the kitchen. Silently thanking Teal'c she saw the muzzle flash of an automatic rifle, she took aim and emptied the clip of her .45 firing towards it. Not knowing whether or not she had hit anything of importance besides leaves and tree trunks, she released the empty clip and had a fresh one inserted before the empty one hit the ground. A heartbeat later, three men rushed from the bushes and ran towards the house in a zig zag pattern. She emptied another clip as staff weapon blasts tore up the manicured lawn of the backyard. Bullets tore through the broken windows and wall next to where she stood as she reloaded again. She didn't get the chance to fire before she had to drop to the floor to avoid being hit by the fuselage of bullets that peppered the house.  
  
***  
  
Daniel was glad that O'Neill had taken him to the range until he was proficient with the .45 he now aimed out the living room window. "Three rounds per target is all you need," O'Neill had said. That's what he tried to do now and one man 'had' gone down. He watched and waited for someone else to show themselves and give him a clear target when bullets began slamming into the window and the wall around it. Ducking splinters of broken glass and shards of wood, he covered his head.  
  
***  
  
O'Neill pushed Makepeace into an inside corner of the room while he went to the window in the west wall. "Stay there," he said as he looked out. He fired through the glass at the two men advancing from the tree line. One went completely down, the other one grabbed his left arm and ran back to the trees. Shooting someone in the back wasn't something O'Neill relished, but in this he had no choice. He aimed and pulled the trigger. Three rounds found their way into the man's back and he fell face down on the grass.   
  
"Give me a gun, Jack," shouted Makepeace.  
  
Without turning around, O'Neill yelled, "No. You're a prisoner, remember."  
  
"Yeah a prisoner who has a couple of dozen people trying to kill him," he shouted back. "Jack, give me a sidearm and I'm another person who can help us all stay alive."  
  
A hail of bullets forced O'Neill to duck for cover. "Damn it," he yelled as he dug into his pants pocket and pulled out a key ring throwing it to Makepeace. "In the top middle drawer of the desk. Don't make me regret this."  
  
Makepeace caught the keys and scurried crab like over to the desk. He found the right key and unlocked the drawer pulling out a .45 and several clips. As he cocked the pistol he glanced around at all the monitoring equipment in the room, some of it now full of bullet holes. "All your fancy surveillance equipment didn't do a damned thing, did it?" he asked. "Can't even call for help, the radio's gone," he added joining O'Neill at the window.  
  
Keeping one eye on the yard in front him as best he could considering that bullets kept hitting the house making the walls look like some giant sieve, he pulled a cell phone from his pocket. "Speed dial," he said as he pushed a button. "This is O'Neill. I've got a code red at the safe house," he got out before a stray bullet shattered his phone. He looked at his hand now covered in blood and slowly raised his eyes to those of Makepeace before he slipped into unconsciousness.  
  
***  
  
"Colonel!" Carter yelled into her radio, "they've got us seriously outgunned and out numbered." She aimed at another man trying to outrace her bullets and Teal'c's staff weapon in his bid for the back door of the house. The man went down but whether it was from her or Teal'c she couldn't tell ... didn't care just as long as he went down. "Colonel!" she yelled again when she didn't get a reply. Still no answer. "Daniel! Teal'c! I think the Colonel's down," she announced once more dropping flat onto the kitchen floor to avoid bullets.  
  
"Maybe his radio's out," she heard Daniel say as she slowly raised herself to look out the window again.  
  
"Where's Kamir?"  
  
"I'm here, Major Carter. I'm almost out of ..."  
  
"Damn," muttered Carter taking aim at another invader. "Kamir?"   
  
"I'm on my way down to her position, MajorCarter," she heard Teal'c say. "Someone got past on her side of the house."  
  
***  
  
Teal'c ran down the stairs and barrelled into a man coming out of the room that Kamir had been guarding. He and the man fired at the same time. Teal'c his staff weapon, the man an AK-47 which jammed after delivering a short burst. The sound was deafening in the enclosed hallway.   
  
Teal'c watched as the man fell to the ground, a smoldering hole in his chest. Then he too sunk to the floor to lay in a pool of his own blood.  
  
***  
  
Daniel was concentrating on staying alive. "Three round bursts," he kept muttering to himself every time he fired. Ejecting a spent clip and inserting a fresh one, he realized that he was getting good at this. It was almost becoming second nature as much as immediately trying to translate some writings he'd found. "Three round bursts," he said again as he rose up and fired at a man who had made it all the way across the yard to the living room window. "God how many people are out there?" he asked himself as his latest target died on the porch.   
  
***  
  
Carter was asking herself that same question and not finding an answer for it. She'd heard the sound of an AK and a staff weapon in the hallway and after that nothing. She wasn't going to even think that Teal'c might be dead ... or the Colonel. She knew Daniel was still all right. She could hear him muttering to himself over the radio. She reached to pull out another clip and to her horror found that it was her last one.  
  
"Daniel, I'm down to one clip ... how are you doing?"  
  
"Three round bursts ... I'm on my last clip, too. Where's Teal'c?"  
  
Firing off two more shots at a man running across the lawn, she answered, "I heard him in the hallway. I don't know if he's still there. Daniel ..." She paused when she had to fire at another person trying to make his way to the house from the tree line.  
  
"Yeah, Sam?"  
  
"I think we ought to retreat to the hallway when we run out of ammunition. If Teal'c's there he has a staff weapon and a zat."  
  
"Good idea. I'll meet you there in a minute."  
  
The slide on Carter's .45 locked open indicating no more shells. She dropped it and started to crawl across the floor towards the door to the hallway. "I'm on my way, Daniel."   
  
As she reached it, she swiveled her head when she heard the crunch of glass behind her. Her eyes met those of Corporal Jessica Peterson. She exhaled slowly in relief when she realized that she had been holding her breathe. "Corporal Peterson. I'm glad to see it's you."  
  
"You shouldn't, Major," said Peterson as she raised her .45 and aimed it at the middle of Carter's chest. "Not at all." She fired and Carter was thrown back by the impact of the bullets. Peterson smiled when she saw the blood flowing down her left side. "So much for Major Carter," she said as she stepped over Carter's inert body.  
  
***  
  
Peterson walked down the hallway, stepped over the still body of Teal'c on the floor and glanced into the living room. Daniel had his back to her still shooting out the front window. She heard him mutter, "Three bursts only." then heard the slide on his .45 lock. He dropped it and turned only to see the muzzle flashes from Corporal Peterson's .45 just before he was slammed backwards leaving him in a sitting position against the wall. Blood from a wound in his forehead ran down the side of his face to drip on his legs and the floor in front of him.  
  
Peterson raised the muzzle of her .45 up to her lips and blew on it. "Dr. Daniel Jackson down.  
  
The sudden silence that occurred was almost a shock to the system. Peterson turned, heading for the den where she knew O'Neill and Makepeace had holed up. She'd heard Carter's communications and decided that O'Neill was out of the picture, but didn't know if Makepeace was. Since she didn't know if Crater's body littered the outside of the house, she'd figured she'd better find out about Makepeace and put an end to him. That was the only thing she was sure of because if she was the only one left, and if the silence outside was any indication that she was, then it was up to her to take Makepeace out of Jacob Castor's life once and for all. If she wanted to continue living that is.   
  
She stepped over Teal'c again and as her foot hit the floor, something slammed into her back Just below her vest forcing her to stumble and fall. When she hit the ground, her .45 fell out of her hand and slid across the floor. She tried to push herself up. but was unable to do so. Laying there, her left cheek on the floor boards she saw a pair of boots come into view. Forcing herself she managed to raise herself enough to see who it was that was standing there.  
  
"Hello Jessica, dear," said Crater.   
  
"You shot me," she said.  
  
"But of course. That was the plan all along," he said smiling at her. "You couldn't be left the only survivor of this little party. No one would believe that. And you couldn't just disappear after all this was over. Hammond would have figured that you were a plant. We can't have Hammond thinking that we had a plant in the SGC. He might think that where there's one, there might be more." Crater watched Peterson's face, especially her eyes. Just before the light in her eyes faded to nothingness, he knelt down next to her and whispered in her ear, "Besides, I really enjoyed shooting you in the back."  
  
***  
  
continued in part 7 


	8. Part VII

From Here To Eternity: The Road to Redemption, The Second Step  
Part 7  
  
All disclaimers can be found in Part 0  
  
***  
  
Peterson had given Crater the general layout of the house. He assumed that O'Neill would be in the den where the surveillance equipment was. He also assumed that Makepeace would be with him so that is where he headed.  
  
The door to the room was closed, which Crater found odd. Standing off to the side, he slowly turned the door knob and pushed the door open with enough force to bang it against the wall. When no shower of bullets came from the room, he peeked around the door jam. The room was in shambles. Expensive equipment was shattered, some of it sending out sparks. From what he could see, there wasn't anywhere to hide. The desk and table that held the now useless equipment was pushed up against the wall and there were no closets anywhere that he could see.   
  
Cautiously he entered the room, Baretta at the ready. Sweeping the room with the pistol his eyes landed on the two bodies laying under the window. Blood pooled around both. "I guess I'm too late," he said. Hearing a moan he added, "Then again, maybe I'm not."  
  
He waited and witnessed O'Neill's eyes slowly open. They remained unfocused as he tried to push himself into a sitting position, one hand ... the injured one, touching his head where the bullet that had shattered his cell phone and had gone through his hand had also grazed his skull.   
  
"Bad day, Colonel O'Neill?" asked Crater Baretta how held loosely at his side when he saw that O'Neill was unarmed.  
  
O'Neill turned blurry eyes towards Crater.   
  
"You know you've been a thorn in my employer's side for a number of years. He's really going to love it when I tell him that it's been plucked."  
  
He could see that O'Neill was trying to focus, but was having a great deal of difficulty. "Too bad," he said out loud. "It's no fun lording it over someone when they can't really understand what you're saying. I guess I'll just have to get it over with."  
  
Crater raised the Baretta and fired.  
  
The bullets ripped through flesh as easily as a steak knife through rare prime rib. As the bullets hit bone, they flattened or shattered also breaking the bone. The shattered bullets sent small chunks of metal propelling into internal organs where they shredded liver, kidneys, and intestines. The flattened ones, if they didn't lodge in the bone, found an exit leaving a larger wound than the one it left when it entered the body. One of those still had enough energy to slam into O'Neill's chest where it was stopped by the body armor he wore under his shirt. Kevlar with ceramic plates on top, along with Robert Makepeace, saved O'Neill's life.  
  
***  
  
Dr. Janet Fraiser knocked on Hammond's open door. He motioned for her to enter while he said into the phone, "Yes, sir. I'll let you know and thank you, sir." He placed the receiver back into its cradle.  
  
"The President, sir?" asked Fraiser.  
  
"Yes. I briefed him on everything but the condition of the survivors which I don't know. How are they?"  
  
Fraiser opened the top file she had placed on General Hammond's desk and handed it to him. "Well sir, Colonel O'Neill has a concussion, multiple lacerations and contusions ... the bullet that hit his hand was a through and through and miraculously, didn't hit any bone."  
  
Hammond glanced at the folder, closed it and put it on the desk in front of him.  
  
"Major Carter has a couple of broken ribs from the impact of the bullets hitting her vest. One bullet got under the vest at the shoulder. She's has a fractured collarbone but it should heal well. Daniel's injuries are the least of the group. He has several lacerations on his scalp, I'm assuming from broken glass as I found some small shards embedded in the cuts. His vest stopped three bullets and his chest is one large bruise from that. Teal'c's symbiote is working to heal the injuries he suffered. I removed three bullets ... one in the arm and two in his groin area. None of them did any serious damage," she concluded handing Hammond three more files.  
  
"And Colonel Makepeace?"  
  
Fraiser shook her head and looked down at the last file she had. "As you know, SG-1 was wearing body armor. Colonel Makepeace wasn't ... do you know why?" she asked.  
  
Hammond nodded. "Colonel O'Neill asked him to, but he refused. Apparently it's part of what he called his penance."   
  
Fraiser sighed and shook her head again. "Well if he wanted to find out whether or not God was going to forgive him, we'll have to wait and see. He's not doing well. He took four bullets ... all to the upper torso area. I'm waiting for him to stabilize before transferring him to the Academy hospital. If he survives he's going to need an orthopedic surgeon ... one of the bullets shattered his right humerous. Dr. Freemantle has been here to look at him and is confident that he can repair the bone, but we don't have the facilities here for him to do that. The other three did various amounts of damage on their way through his body. One punctured a lung and lodged there. We got it out. One was straight through, missing his heart by centimeters and from what I've been told about the scene, it looks like it's the one that hit Colonel O'Neill's vest. The other shredded his spleen and we had to remove what was left of it. All that's left now is the waiting," she finished.  
  
"I don't think I've ever known a group of people with so much luck before," said Hammond. "I just hope that they didn't use it all up."  
  
"I know what you mean," agreed Fraiser. "What was the total body count?"  
  
"Eleven of our people ... all the Security Forces guards and Sgt. Kamir. Twenty-seven others. Six of those were still alive at the scene. They were taken to the Academy hospital under guard and I'm hoping that they'll have a lot to say when they're able. All the rest were DOA."  
  
Fraiser dragged a hand across her forehead. "I can't imagine what it must have been like out there. Do we know who they were?" she asked.  
  
"No," answered Hammond. "None of them were carrying any form of identification. All their clothing and weapons were Chinese or Russian. The vehicles we found at the scene were rentals. They used fake IDs. No surprises there. No one we finger printed came back with any kind of record at all ... civilian or military. We're chasing down a couple of tattoos that some of those men had, but we don't know if that's going to take us anywhere."  
  
"So private mercenaries not originally trained with the military?" she asked.  
  
"That's what it looks like."  
  
Fraiser looked at her watch and stood. "I'd better get back to the infirmary. No one from the shift that was on when SG-1 and Colonel Makepeace were brought in wants to leave, so I told them all they could stay but that they had to rest. I want to make sure that they are."  
  
Hammond wasn't surprised. SG-1 was a talisman at the SGC. He knew that some in his command considered their continued success hinged on the survival of his premiere team. "Tell them I appreciate their dedication."  
  
"I will, sir," she said, a tired smile adorning her face. "They already know that, but they'll appreciate hearing it."  
  
***  
  
Jack O'Neill's first conscious thought was "Where am I?". He slowly opened his eyes and saw the ceiling to the infirmary ... a view with which he was very familiar. Now he knew where he was and his next question to himself was "Why?".   
  
"Welcome back, Colonel." a voice sounded in his ear just before a face moved into his line of sight ... a familiar face, one usually attached to an arm and a hand that more often than not would shine a pen light into his eyes. He waited for it and when it didn't come, he signed in relief.  
  
"Colonel?" said Fraiser.  
  
O'Neill heard the concern in her voice and tried to smile. He assumed he'd succeeded when Fraiser smiled back. He figured with that success out of the way, he'd try something else ... maybe speaking.  
  
"How am I?"  
  
Fraiser smiled down at him and said, "Why don't you tell me?"  
  
"Well, I'm alive," he said.  
  
"Yes, you are at that. Any pain?"  
  
"Besides the pounding in my head, the throbbing in my hand, and the fact that my chest feels like someone hit me with a sledgehammer, you mean?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Not much then," he grinned.  
  
Fraiser continued to smile, then dropped it. "Colonel, how much do you remember of what happened?"  
  
She watched as O'Neill's smile faded and his eyes took on the distant look of someone trying to remember an event that happened in their past.   
  
O'Neill clearly remembered sitting at the kitchen table with the rest of his team and Makepeace. He remembered the first sound of gun shots and his orders. He remembered being in the den with Makepeace talking on the phone to Hammond, giving a warning that they were under attack. He didn't remember anything after that.   
  
It suddenly dawned on O'Neill that his team wasn't there by his bed. They were always there whenever he had been injured in the past. In fact, it was difficult to get them to leave so that he could rest. Beginning to fear the worst, his chest tightened and breathing became difficult. He started to panic and at once felt Fraiser's reassuring hand and heard her voice.  
  
"They're all right, Colonel. They were injured as well and are sleeping right now, but ... they ... are ... all ... right," she emphasized.  
  
O'Neill's eyes went to hers to see if she was telling the truth. Fraiser eyes told everything, no matter how bad the news. He started to calm down when he saw that she was telling the truth.  
  
"Makepeace?"  
  
"He's alive," she stated.  
  
"You say that like you don't know if he's going to live," said O'Neill.  
  
"I'm not real sure, Colonel. He's in critical condition and if he survives, he's going to need some more surgery," she said. "Colonel I wasn't at the safe house when the rescue units got there. I have talked to several of the people who were, however."  
  
"And?"  
  
She sighed. "There was the body of one of the men who attacked the house in the room with you. It looked like Makepeace covered your body with his, taking four bullets while at the same time killing your attacker. One of those bullets went completely through Colonel Makepeace. Your vest stopped it. That's why your chest hurts."  
  
"Your saying that Makepeace saved my life."  
  
"Yes, Colonel. I am," she stated.  
  
O'Neill tried to force a memory that was slowly surfacing in his mind. He could see a man standing in front of him, his arm hanging at his side, hand holding a pistol. As his memory started to clear, he heard the man say, "It's no fun lording it over someone when they can't really understand what you're saying. I guess I'll just have to get it over with," then raise the pistol and point it at him. He had tried to move, tried to duck from what he knew was coming but his mind was so fuzzy it wasn't issuing any commands to the rest of his body. Clearly now, as clearly as he was seeing Fraiser he remembered the rest.  
  
Makepeace's voice yelling, "NO!" and then O'Neill couldn't see the man with the pistol because Makepeace's body filled his line of vision getting between him and the man who was going to kill him. He felt Makepeace's body as it landed on him, thrown back from the bullets that entered it. He felt the impact of the bullet against his vest and just before he passed out again, he saw his attacker falling to the floor his head a bloody mess where bullets from Makepeace's .45 had torn into it.  
  
"Why? Why did he do it?"  
  
"Colonel?"  
  
O'Neill caught Fraiser's eyes. "Why did Makepeace do it? He could have just shot the guy. Why did he jump between him and me?"  
  
Fraiser shook her head. "I don't know Colonel. That's something you'll have to ask Colonel Makepeace when he comes to."  
  
"If he comes to you mean."  
  
"Yes Colonel ... if he comes to."  
  
***  
  
continued in part 8 


	9. Part VIII

From Here To Eternity: The Road to Redemption, The Second Step  
Part 8  
  
All disclaimers can be found in Part 0  
  
***  
  
Miraculously Daniel's digital recorder had survived the attack. It had been found and delivered to Hammond who had listened to it before having the dialogue transcribed. What he had heard chilled him and he wondered if they would have the necessary wherewithall to do anything about it. Jacob Castro was a very powerful man, a very rich man with connections that Hammond didn't even want to consider right now. He had already informed the President and the Joint Chiefs what he knew and they had told him that they would consider the problem and how, if at all possible, to solve it.   
  
He looked at his door when he heard Lt. Simmons knock. "Yes Lieutenant," he said.  
  
"Dr. Fraiser just called down from the infirmary. They're ready for you, sir," Simmons announced.  
  
"Thank you, Lieutenant."  
  
Simmons turned and left. Hammond smiled at the young man's retreating back. Taking him out of the Gate Room and making him the equivalent to an administrative assistant had increased the boy's confidence. It had also been a good choice. Lt. Simmons was a highly responsible, highly motivated Air Force officer. Hammond felt that he would go far. He stood up and left his office, heading for the infirmary and the waiting SG-1 team.  
  
***  
  
"It's amazing what 24 hours will do to one's pain level," O'Neill was saying as Hammond entered the infirmary.   
  
"Colonel, I did ask you if you wanted anything for the pain now that more than 24 hours has passed since your LOC and you specifically said no," reminded Fraiser to her recalcitrant patient.  
  
"That was before the little guy in my hand decided to start his tap dance across my nerves," explained O'Neill.  
  
Fraiser shook her head and took the syringe a nurse had handed her. She inserted it into his IV line and pushed the fluid. "All right, this should help turn the tap dance into a soft shoe."  
  
O'Neill sighed. "Thank you, doctor. I apologize for all those things I said about you and your torture devices."  
  
"I appreciate that Colonel," said Fraiser smiling and moving away so that Hammond could take her place at O'Neill's bedside.  
  
"General," said O'Neill brightly, the pain medication already starting to work it's miracles.  
  
"Colonel," said Hammond smiling. "You seem much better than the last time I saw you."  
  
"Well, sir. I do appreciate your concern ... we all do," said O'Neill sweeping the room with his good hand to include the rest of his team.  
  
"I've just gotten off the phone with the President and the Joint Chiefs and they also would like to express thier wishes for a speedy recovery."  
  
The four members of SG-1 exchanged glances. O'Neill was the one that spoke. "Does this mean we get a medal?"  
  
"No Colonel, no medal," answered Hammond.  
  
"I mean we realize that we probably don't deserve an Air Medal or something like that but at least a Purple Heart?"   
  
Hammond ignored him. "Dr. Fraiser any word on Colonel Makepeace?"  
  
Fraiser stepped to the foot of O'Neill's bed. "Yes, sir. He's resting comfortably at the Academy hospital. He's been conscious ever since he stabilized and we transferred him early this morning. Dr. Freemantle is quite confident that he can repair the damage done to Colonel Makepeace's arm and that there should be little or no loss of function. Uhm ..."  
  
"Yes, Doctor?"  
  
Fraiser glanced quickly at O'Neill. "He's asking to see Colonel O'Neill once he's able to make the trip."  
  
"And when will that be?" asked Hammond.  
  
"I'm ready to clear Colonel O'Neill and Daniel once these IVs are finished. Major Carter and Teal'c will need to stay here a bit longer."  
  
"Good," said Hammond. Pointedly looking at O'Neill he added, "Colonel are you up to meeting with Colonel Makepeace again?"  
  
"Yes, sir," O'Neill answered. Looking at Fraiser, he added, "There's something I have to ask him."  
  
Hammond watched the unspoken interplay between O'Neill and Fraiser. "And that would be?"  
  
O'Neill turned his head and met Hammond's gaze. "Personal, sir."  
  
"I see," said Hammond. "Well when Dr. Fraiser clears you to travel, I'll have a driver put at your disposal."  
  
"Thank you, sir."  
  
When Hammond left the room a few moments later, Daniel who was in the bed across the aisle from O'Neill said, "Jack?"  
  
O'Neill lay back in his bed and closed his eyes. "Not now Daniel. It's something I have to think about and get some answers to before I can talk about it."  
  
Daniel almost protested, but Fraiser put up a warning hand and shook her head and Daniel kept silent. He looked at Fraiser, but she walked over to one of the counters and began rummaging through a drawer. He then looked at Carter and Teal'c, in turn, and their eyes also held curiosity and concern, however, no one spoke. All three laid their heads back on their pillows seeming to know that O'Neill would explain when he felt like it and not before.  
  
***  
  
It had been another 24 hours before O'Neill had felt strong enough to leave the SGC and go home. He had spent the entire time, when not sleeping debriefing General Hammond, with the rest of his team, on the events that had happened at the safe house. When it was his turn and he had gotten to the part about Makepeace saving his life, no one made any comment knowing that that was what O'Neill needed to talk to Makepeace about in order to reconcile his feelings that the person who 'had' saved his life was someone he had written off as a traitor ... someone not worth the space he was taking up on the planet.  
  
O'Neill undressed for bed, still thinking about how he was going to approach Makepeace in the morning. In some ways, thinking that he really didn't need to know why Makepeace had put himself in harm's way to save O'Neill's life when he didn't have to do so. With that thought in his head, he got into bed went to sleep.  
  
***  
  
It was dark, the darkness that comes from your eyes being closed and there was pain ... a dull throbbing pain in both his head and his hand. Struggling to understand where he was and why he was in pain, he began to open his eyes. Maybe once he saw where he was, he'd know what was causing the pain. As his eyes slit open, he realized he was sitting down leaning up against something, what he didn't know.   
  
"Bad day, Colonel?" he heard and he remembered. He had been calling Hammond to tell him that they were under attack. He must have been hit because he remembered nothing after that. His eyes tracked to where the voice had come from and he saw a man standing there aiming a handgun at him. He recognized it as a Baretta and wondered where his own pistol had gone.   
  
"You know you've been a thorn in my employer's side for a number of years. He's really going to love it when I tell him that it's been plucked."  
  
Bastard, O'Neill thought. He tried to imagine where his .45 had gotten to knowing that if he didn't get to it, defend himself, he was going to die. Everything was still fuzzy and his body wasn't exactly obeying the commands he kept trying to send to it. Every passing second frustrated him ... made him angry ... made him afraid.  
  
"Too bad. It's no fun lording it over someone when they can't really understand what you're saying. I guess I'll just have to get it over with."  
  
O'Neill could only watch as flames erupted from the barrel of the Baretta. He felt each bullet as they entered his chest, tearing into flesh, muscle, and bone. The initial pain was over in seconds as numbness set in but even with that there was feeling ... the feeling of his blood rushing out of his body to pool around him, the feeling of his soul slowly slipping away. With that feeling, his mind cleared completely and he knew he was dying, but he also knew he didn't want to die. He began to fight, aware that he might be fighting a losing battle, but not willing to give up ... not willing to give in to the voice he now heard calling him, telling him that he could now rest. The voice told him that he would never have to make another decision that might mean the death or life of someone else. The voice told him that he'd be free ... free to do all the things that he had so often wanted to do in the past but never could because of 'duty'. He would never again have to put 'duty' ahead of his family ... his son.   
  
As the voice continued, O'Neill felt himself slip further and further away ... felt the hypnotic call of the voice slowly begin to break down his will to survive. He felt himself start to give into it when he heard another voice ... a familiar voice ... one that he had loved with all his heart and soul. Charlie.  
  
"Dad. You won't find the answers here. You'll only find them when you're ready to forgive."  
  
"No," O'Neill muttered. "It's my fault your dead."  
  
"No Dad ... you already forgave yourself ... and me ... for that. You already know that. You know that deep in your heart."  
  
"Forgive you? There was nothing to forgive you for."  
  
"Yes there was. I knew what I was doing and you know I did. You told me enough times that guns weren't toys ... that they weren't for playing around with. You didn't say it to anyone, but you said it to yourself and I don't blame you for it. You said that if I had only listened to you, if I had only obeyed you I wouldn't have gone to your room and gotten your gun. I wouldn't have shot it. I would still be alive. Part of you, a small part, blamed me and you hated yourself for it ... for a long time. You also knew that you had to forgive me and you knew that you couldn't forgive me until you forgave yourself. You began on the day you decided you still wanted to live. You were halfway there on the day when that alien took my form and touched your heart. You finished on the day you gave that other little boy my name. The answers you want now won't come until you talk to Colonel Makepeace ... until you forgive him."  
  
"What answers?"  
  
"The question you've been asking yourself ever since you realized that Colonel Makepeace saved your life. What is your life worth if someone you dispise, someone whose life you don't feel is worth anything gave you yours?"  
  
***  
  
O'Neill woke up, sweat running down his face falling off of his chin to leave dark spots on his sheet. His head was throbbing again and as remnants of his dream faded into memory, he got up to prepare himself for his meeting with Makepeace.  
  
***  
  
continued in part 9 


	10. Part IX

From Here To Eternity: The Road to Redemption, The Second Step  
Part 9  
  
All disclaimers can be found in Part 0  
  
***  
  
O'Neill knocked on the door to Makepeace's hospital room before walking inside. The first thing he noticed was that the bed was empty. There wasn't any sign of Makepeace anywhere in the room, not even the bathroom whose door was standing open. He frowned and walked back out down to the nurse's station. A young, female lieutenant was the only person there.  
  
"Excuse me, Lieutenant," said O'Neill. "Do you know where the patient in room 206 is?"  
  
The lieutenant consulted a chart that was out of O'Neill's line of sight. "He's in radiology. Should be back any minute now."  
  
"Thank you," O'Neill said giving her his best smile.  
  
Whether or not she appreciated it, O'Neill couldn't tell. She just smiled back, saying, "You're welcome, sir," and went back to reading the chart she had been looking at before O'Neill interrupted her. He shrugged and walked back down to Makepeace's room to wait.  
  
A few minutes later Makepeace arrived pushed in a wheelchair by an Airman who helped him get back into bed, then left the room taking the wheelchair with him. O'Neill watched all of this and then rose to shut the door that had been left open. Turning back to the man in the bed he said, "Hello Makepeace. You wanted to see me?"  
  
"Yeah, I did."  
  
O'Neill nodded. "Here I am."  
  
"I noticed. Why don't you sit down, Jack ... sorry Colonel," he amended.  
  
O'Neill took the chair he had been sitting in and moved it closer to the bed before seating himself. "What did you want?"  
  
Makepeace stared at O'Neill for a few moments. His eyes went from the gauze on O'Neill's head to the wrapping on his hand. "You know Colonel. I really don't know why I had to see you again. Maybe I just needed to know that you'd made it."  
  
O'Neill shook his head. "Don't buy it. You knew that my team and I made it when you came to at the infirmary."  
  
"All right Colonel. You tell me then. You're giving off the impression that you know why I asked to see you," said Makepeace.  
  
O'Neill sat forward in the chair, elbows on his knees, hands clasped in front of him. Looking into Makepeace's eyes he said, "You asked to see me to give me the answer to the question I want to ask you."  
  
Makepeace nodded, a ghost of a smile crossed his features. "You know as different as our philosophies have been in the past, we're still the same. I did it because I had to do it. It was the right thing to do and you would have done the same for me even if you didn't know it then. I think you know it now."  
  
O'Neill continued to meet Makepeace's gaze.  
  
"Jack. You got a second chance at life when the Stargate program began. You know that. Everybody at the SGC knows that. Everybody knows about Charlie ... about your son. No one says anything because it's personal and everyone respects that. It was a tragedy ... the worst day in your life and yet you turned it around. You came back and you came back stronger than ever.   
  
"The worst day in my life was when you placed those wrist restraints on me and I knew that my life was over ... that I'd sold my soul to Maybourne and Castor to end up locked up for the rest of my life. I was a hateful, bitter man for a long time. I hated Maybourne. I hated you for catching me. I hated the judge for putting me in prison. I hated everyone involved. But the one person I should have hated, I didn't."  
  
"You," whispered O'Neill not taking his eyes off of Makepeace's.  
  
"Yeah, me. Then one night I had a dream. I dreamed about your son ... don't ask me why but I did. He told me about a camping trip you all took one summer when he was six. You taught him how to fish and how you always had to put the worm on the hook for him. He told me about the first fish he caught that summer ... a trout about four inches long ... and how proud he was when you took it and explained to him about how he had to let it go. You didn't tell him it was because it was too little. That would have disappointed him. You told him instead about how precious life was ... even the life of a four inch trout ... and that all life was to be respected. And you handed him the fish and let him put it back."  
  
O'Neill felt a chill go down the back of his spine when Makepeace mentioned the camping trip, yet for some reason he wasn't shocked. "It's true. We did go camping when Charlie was six. We did go fishing and he did catch that trout," O'Neill whispered.   
  
Makepeace nodded. "Naturally I didn't want to believe that your son was talking to me in a dream. I'm a grown man ... a realist just like you but there was something that just kept nagging at me and it wouldn't let me be. There was a lot about that dream that I didn't remember ... at first."  
  
"But you eventually did," O'Neill stated.  
  
"Uhm, hm. And it really didn't have anything to do with me at all, nor you either for that matter. It was mostly just that of a boy talking to someone who was willing to listen ... telling me about his life ... his impressions of what life was ... what living was. And it came to me that what he was telling me was what my life wasn't and why I made the choices I did. I don't remember when it happened, but one day I gave up on life. I went through the motions, but only because it was expected of me and I never did anything that wasn't expected of me. You know after we rescued you on Hathor's planet, that's when a lot of this started. I started to hate you and your team."  
  
"You saved our butts and we got all the attention," said O'Neill.  
  
"Yeah. I found the information that freed you. I led the team that freed you. Shit, I lost most of my men that night but who got the heroes' return. You."  
  
"I, uh, should have ..."  
  
"No, it wasn't you ... it was just the catalyst. When Maybourne came to me, I was ready. And when I agreed to work for him, I sold my soul to the devil."   
  
"Have you got it back now? Now that you saved my life ... again."  
  
Makepeace shook his head in the negative. "Not yet."  
  
O'Neill nodded. "I had a dream last night, too ... about Charlie. He talked to me. He told me that I wouldn't ever have the answer to what my life was worth until I forgave you. I didn't understand then. I just knew he was right and now I know. I know what my life is worth now."  
  
Makepeace slowly closed his eyes and leaned back into his pillow. O'Neill watched and when Makepeace didn't move, he thought that he might have fallen asleep. Quietly he stood and put the chair back where he had found it. He started to leave the room but before his hand reached the door knob he heard, "Thank you, Jack."  
  
O'Neill didn't turn. "Thank you," he answered. Then he quietly opened the door and left.  
  
***  
  
The End 


End file.
